The Divine Path (The Divine Series) (6 page)

The sun broke through the
leaves of the torok tree to arouse Kade from his slumber.  He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around the clearing.  He found that he was off the moss and Darcienna was sprawled over the entire patch.  He stretched his back to work out a few knots and looked over to see the dragon had not moved.  He was taking in the calm air as he watched Rayden and did not even notice as Darcienna reached over for him.

“Good morning,” she
said as she laid a hand on his arm.

Kade flinched hard, spraying dirt into the air as his hand came up out of reflex.  When he saw it was her, he studied her to see if she was trying to repay him for his little prank back in the kitchen of his parent’s cabin.  He shook his head at his foolishness and took a steadying breath.  Was that a smirk on her face? 

He worked his way to his feet and checked for the sack of books.  Satisfied everything was as it should be, he returned to look at Darcienna.  She looked beautiful, even in the early hours.

“Good morning yourself,” Kade said as he offered her his hand.  “It sure felt good to sleep,” he said as he tried to recall the night.

“We should get going as soon as possible.  Half of the day is already gone,” Darcienna said.

“Well, let’s have something to eat first, and then we can get moving.”

Kade made a full three course meal of cheese, bread and meat.  He sat down next to Darcienna, eagerly looked forward to the food.  After checking to make sure the dragon was still asleep so he could eat in peace, he enjoyed his morning meal.  They ate without saying much as they enjoyed the calm of the land. 

Kade finished his food while Darcienna still had half of hers left.  He
climbed to his feet and proceeded to make a pile of meat for the dragon.  He had placed eight steaming pieces of juicy meat right in front of Rayden’s nose, wondering when the dragon was going to wake.  As Kade laid the ninth one down, the dragon’s nose started to work feverishly.  It was not long before its eyes popped open, and it tore into the pile of meat with huge bites.  Kade laughed and looked at Darcienna to see how she would regard the dragon’s eating habits.

“Rayden is a dragon,” Darcienna said simply, as if that was all that needed to be said.  Kade shook his head, not knowing where to go with that.

It took no time for the dragon to finish.  As a matter of fact, Darcienna was still eating when the dragon inhaled the tenth piece.  Kade made a mental note to see how big a piece of meat he could create.  Cooking like this was really starting to turn into work.

“Time to go
, my friend,” Kade said as he patted Rayden on the neck.

The dragon,
reluctantly, bent down for the riders to mount.  Kade got the feeling that the dragon would have preferred to lie back down and spend the day doing nothing.  He knew exactly how his friend felt. 

Kade helped Darcienna to her feet as she shoved the last of the bread into her mouth.  He boosted her onto the dragon
and then easily vaulted onto Rayden’s back.  Kade flexed his hands, feeling the stickiness of the wine and wiped them on his pants.  It did not do much to help so he decided to stop at the first stream or lake they could find.   For that matter, a full cleaning was in order.

He tied the books into place and
signaled the dragon to go.  Instead of the lazy lope as Kade expected, the dragon merely walked.  He considered coaxing it into a run but decided that it was probably best if they started the day out slowly.  He found that this slower pace helped his mind relax.

After the sun had traveled across most of the sky, Kade realized they were just barely halfway to Valdry
’s place.  He considered once more asking the dragon to pick up the pace, but the warm sun made him feel just as lazy as the dragon.  He let it go, dreading rushing into more danger.  His nerves needed a break, and he did not need to hold on so tightly to the dragon.

Many hours later, night threatened to creep across the land when they came upon
a lake.  Kade could picture the water washing over him, removing the many days of travel.  The sun was starting to set, and it cast a long reflection across the lake, causing Kade to have to shield his eyes.  It was beautiful, and he stared for a while, soaking up the view.

“This looks like a good place to stop for the night.  We will see the Chosen, Valdry, in the morning,” Kade said.

“I thought this was going to be half a day’s ride,” Darcienna commented.

“If we would have pushed Rayden, then it would have been, but it felt good to take it slow
ly for once.  Besides, I needed rest before we meet this Valdry.  I need to be prepared for anything.  He is a Chosen, and from talking to Zayle, I have to be cautious,” Kade said as he slid down from the dragon.

“Why cautious
?” Darcienna asked, confused.  She swung her leg over and slid down to land in Kade’s arms.  He regretted, momentarily, not losing his balance and then stepped back as he turned toward the water.  Before taking one step, he turned back to the dragon and untied the books.  He gently laid them on the ground and headed for the water.

“Because…,” Kade started to say, struggling with how best to explain it for her to fully understand. 
“Because we have secrets…even from each other.  Zayle says that each Chosen works a lifetime compiling knowledge but does not share it.  It is a status thing, and of course, power.  For example, Zayle is the only one that knows the Lightning Calling.  He is not even sure if any of the other Chosen know the Divine Fire Calling.  He has more knowledge compiled than any other Chosen.  Many have tried to steal these very books,” Kade said as he patted the sack.  “It’s these secrets that keep us from interacting with one another, unless we have a common interest where we must work together.”

“But, that is crazy,” Darcienna said, stunned at his words.

“Why?” Kade asked, surprised at her reaction.

“Because you should work together like we do.”

“You work together?” Kade asked in surprise.  After a moment, it made sense.  “Wait.  Just think about it.  You cannot gain power until it is given to you,” he said as he watched her to make sure she was following his logic.  “If you were able to travel great distance at the blink of an eye, would you want that?” he asked as he turned to face her.

“I believe anyone would,” Darcienna said as she tried to see where he was going with this.

“Okay, so let’s say that your kind, who uses Nature’s Gift, can share these abilities.  Let’s also say that you find just one person who has this knowledge but won’t share it.  What would you do?”

“I would respect their wish to be left alone,” Darcienna said, still not understanding how this was supporting his argument.

“But you are willing to share?”

“Of course,” Darcienna said quickly.

“And what if you were willing to share but that one who knew the travel ability would not share with you?  Would you share with that person?”

“I…but that
is not how it is.”

“Isn’t it?  If just one person decided they did not want to share their ability, that would start a chain reaction of others not wanting to share or one person might become too powerful.  And then, pretty soon, you would have people guarding their secrets closely.  But you don’t have to worry about that.  You get your abilities given to you, and you don’t need to fear another of your kind lusting after that knowledge.  Do you understand what I am saying
?” Kade asked as he smiled easily at her.

“I still think it should be okay to share the knowledge, though,” Darcienna said, trying to salvage a bit of her point of view.

“In a perfect world, I would agree.  But, this is not a perfect world.  Zayle used to say that it had to be this way.  He told me hundreds, no, thousands of times that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  He would preach over and over that the more knowledge and power one person held, the more temptation there would be to use that power.  And, that person would be tempted to shape things into the way they wanted.  He would say that even if you start out with good in your heart, sooner or later your actions would infringe upon others.  He would lecture me over and over that as soon as this line was crossed, one would be well on their way to self-destruction.  With the knowledge spread between several Chosen, they would keep each other in check.  Morg wants to eliminate us all so there is no one to challenge him.  At least, that is all I can figure out until I can learn more.”

Darcienna sat there in dismay.  She had never seen so much drama.  Her simple world of how things worked was quickly changing as her mind actually started to grasp what Kade was explaining.  For just a moment, she saw the world, not as the beautiful place she believed it to be, but as intricate plots and subterfuge while people jockeyed for positions th
at would give them advantage.  It made her sick to think that the basic nature of man could be reduced to such selfish motives that might hurt others.  She could not recall a time when she wanted something for herself that might harm another.  The more she contemplated this line of thinking, the more she was sure she could never accept someone suffering for her betterment.  It just was not acceptable.

“You stay here while the dragon and I go get cleaned up,” Kade said.  “On second thought, come with me.  I want to make sure I can keep you safe.”

The dragon was eager to launch itself into the water.  Kade patted it on the side and pointed to the lake.  Rayden tore off like he was hunting prey.  He leapt high in the air and hit the water with a splash that sent a wave in all direction.  Kade charged after the dragon without taking his clothes off, splashing through the water until it was too deep and then dove.  The lake was just too inviting to take the time to undress, and the clothes needed washing anyway. 

Kade shot to the surface, eyes wide with shock at the frigid temperature of the water.  He waded back toward shore until the water was at his waist and then stopped.  Darcienna was watching him, obviously entertained.

“You mind turning around,” Kade said as he started to work at removing his clothes.  He struggled as the wet fabric clung tightly to his body.  He heard a thread tear as he put his strength into it.  He eased his grip and worked the clothes up one side and then another until he had his shirt off.  He tossed it to shore and went to work at his pants until he saw that she was still watching.

“
Maybe I confused you when I used the words turn around.  That means, face the other way,” Kade said, scolding her.

“That’s no fun,” Darcienna said with a wink.  She was relieved that they were back to where she could tease him again.  She loved to watch him blush, as he was doing right at that moment.

“Darcienna,” Kade said sternly.

“Okay,” Darcienna
said, her hands up in surrender.  “You have only to the count of ten, and then I turn back around again,” she added.

“Darcienna,” Kade warned, but she started to count.  Kade huffed as he sta
rted to wrestle with his pants.

“One.
  Two.  Three.  Four,” Darcienna called over her shoulder.  Kade gritted his teeth and worked to pull his pants off, but like his shirt, it clung to his body with tenacity as if it were alive.  “Five.  Six.  Seven,” she said as she prepared to turn.  Kade hopped on one leg as he struggled to pull the other leg out.  “Eight.  Nine.  Ten,” she said as she spun around.  Kade sank down into the water as he fought with the last leg.

“Kade!”
Darcienna screamed as she watching him thrash violently as he fought with something unseen.  She had her hands up, ready to project a shield around him when he finally subdued his foe.  He stood with his vicious pants in his hands and glared at her.  Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she let out a laugh that she could not stifle.

“I am happy you find this so entertaining,” Kade said, irritated.
  He balled up his wet pants, wound up and threw, hitting her square in the face.  She stumbled under the weight of the water in the cloth but did not fall.  She shook her head and wiped her eyes clear.  Kade was afraid he had gone too far, but she quirked a smile at him as she ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it.

“Nice throw,” Darcienna said with
a twinkle in her eye.

How can I fight my feelings for her?
  Kade asked himself
.  She is perfect.  How many women would accept a ball of wet pants in the face and not come unhinged?  She takes as well as she gives.  Bah.  I am only torturing myself,
he finished as he turned to find the dragon.

Rayden
was galloping around the lake just as he had done at the hot spring.  Kade found himself laughing as he watched this fierce dragon look like the goofiest thing he had seen with the way its head would bob up and down with each stride.  This lake was ten times the size of the hot spring.  As Rayden ran around the far side, he was barely recognizable. 

The water was freezing and Kade found it difficult to completely immerse himself, even after his short wrest
ling match with his pants.  He slowly edged deeper, sucking in his gut as the cold crept up his torso.  He held his arms above the water, waiting until he had to duck under.

“You need to wash everything.  Your hair looks like a rat’s nest, and I am not sure what
your true skin color is,” Darcienna chided.